Stockholm, Maine

The beginning of Stockholm all started with a bridge. This bridge was created by people wading across the water with logs to build a bridge to get to Upsala. Upsala is what Stockholm was known as when it first was settled. Once this bridge was finished people used it to settle on the north side of the Madawaska Stream. However, in 1923, the bridge was washed out by a major flood. The people that were included in the process of making this bridge were Fred Palm, Olaf Swenson, Olaf Sodergren, Thure Larson, Anders Gunnerson, Swen Lind, Victor Palm, and Carl Peterson.

Stockholm got its name because a popular plantation was named Stockholm. The north part of town was still called Upsala for a while, but in 1911 the name Stockholm was the town’s final name.

In the late part of 1900, two brothers from Jemtland came to live in the uprising Stockholm. Lewis and John Anderson decided to build a store in Stockholm. The store was one-and-one-half stories and it opened for business in 1901. The store was named the Anderson Brothers Store, but everyone knew it as the General Store. This store was located on the end of Lake Street and about in the middle of Main Street. Now, the store has been donated to the town and is currently the Stockholm Museum.

Also in 1901, a post office was establishing. Lewis Anderson was the postmaster. In 1905, on a 233 mile delivery route, Olaf Anderson began to deliver the mail. The mail had to be delivered to around 120 houses all around Stockholm from New Sweden.

The Anderson Brothers Store is now the Stockholm Museum.

The Eureka Club and Eureka Hall

Once the bridge was rebuilt, sidewalks were added and gravel roads were made. This made it possible for a building to be made. This building was run by the Odd Fellows in the 1920s for ten years. These people then sold it to the Eureka Club. they used it for many things. It was a movie theater, basketball court, jail, town office, general store, pool hall, barber shop, and a bowling alley. Later, the top floor of Eureka was taken off and one of the ends was used to live in. No one was in Eureka for many years, until in 1998 the building was restored and turned into The Eureka Hall Restaurant.

B&A Railroad

The B&A Railroad (Bangor and Aroostook Railroad) was built in 1881. Because of the increase of population, railroad workers felt that Stockholm needed its own railroad. The B&A Railroad ran through Stockholm to Van Buren. In the end of 1899 a flag station was finished and the trains started transporting passengers. The Bangor and Aroostook Railroad began delivering mail. The train delivering mail got the mail to and from places quicker than foot or other terms of transportation.

Schools in Stockholm

The first school in Stockholm was built on the Berquist Farm, where it got its name--the Berquist School. Many other schools have been built since then and most of them have burned. Some of the schools include Lind Hill School, a school above the Lutheran Church, primary grades Brown School, and the High School. The only school that has not burned is the current school on the High School land. In 1919 Stockholm decided to build a grade C high school. The school would be started in August when the boys from World War I returned.

Recreation in Stockholm

Many people in Stockholm were looking for a way to get outside and do something. They also needed meat when the Anderson Brothers store had none. The answer came when Stockholm residents started hunting. Hunting quickly became a exciting sport that most people were involved in. The man and his dog, sometimes even his child if he had a son, would go out hunting. Whatever they would catch, the woman would skin clean and prepare.

In the winter hunting became less popular because of the coldness. They didn’t want to hunt because they would be out 12, maybe 14, hours a day. The new sport for winter was skiing. Some people made their own skis. There were many races held for skiing. Other people just skied for fun.

Stockholm-Boom and Bust

The population in Stockholm had climbed from 715 to 1,300 in just 15 years. People were attracted to its good land, industry, and culture. The people that came to Stockholm were mainly French-Canadian, Swedish, or from the southern parts of Maine. All of the customs from these people were put into one new culture. Many parts from the English culture, the Swedish culture, and the French culture were absorbed into one culture that seemed to blend well with the people in the new community.

With all of the new jobs and things to do in Stockholm, it was a great place to live. There were barber shops, clothing stores and many convenient stores and restaurants.

All of these great jobs and opportunities went downhill when the stock market crashed in 1929. Potatoes were down from 45¢ to 15¢ a barrel. Timber was becoming scarce and many mills had to close down. The Great Depression got everyone into trouble. The plentiful jobs went to no jobs. Everyone in Stockholm was trying to survive with scarce supplies.

People started leaving Stockholm until there were very few people left. Most people left in Stockholm were elderly people that couldn’t leave or farmers that wouldn’t leave. Few kids were left and the middle-age population was very scarce. The few that were there didn’t want to leave Stockholm because they thought it might rebound from the Depression; it never fully did.

Even today, there are few people that live in Stockholm. The Stockholm School has closed and now the children go to New Sweden School. Anderson's store is still open and it has become the place to catch up with friends and get a cup of coffee. Eureka Hall is open on Thursday nights, Friday nights, Saturday, and Sunday for breakfast. The town office has been moved across from the vacant school on School St. The boom is definitely over.